David J. Cornwell – författare

A magnificent collection, Civilising Criminal Justice is an inescapable resource for anyone interested in restorative justice: truly international and packed with experience while combining history, theory, developments and practical advice.This volume of specially commissioned contributions by widely respected commentators on crime and punishment from various countries is a 'break-through' in bringing together some of the best arguments for long-overdue penal reform. An increasingly urgent need to change outmoded criminal processes, even in advanced democracies, demands an end to those penal excesses driven by political expediency and damaging notions of retribution, deterrence and punishment for its own sake. 'Civilising' criminal justice will make it fairer, more consistent, understandable and considerate towards victims of crime, currently largely excluded from participation. Principles of reparative and restorative justice have become increasingly influential in the quest to provide justice which tackles harm, compensates victims, repairs relationships, resolves debilitating conflicts and calls offenders to account.And in any case, what real justification is there for subjecting more and more people to the expensive but hollow experience of prison, especially at a time of economic stringency. Civil justice - in its various forms - can be swifter, cheaper and more effective, in court or through mediated processes focusing on the harmful consequences of offences rather than inflicting punishment that may satisfy a baying media but come home to haunt the community. This brave and generous book illustrates the many different ways in which criminal justice can be 'civilised' and how lessons can be learned from practical experience across the world and shared expertise. It is a volume that every politician should read, every criminal justice professional should possess, and that every student of criminology and penology will find invaluable.

The book provides a refreshing analysis of the inherent divide between punitive and restorative approaches to questions of criminal justice. It looks at matters that serve to restrict more active and enthusiastic adoption of principles of restorative justice so that RJ tends to be constrained to a secondary role on the margins of criminal justice development. It examines claims to mainstream consideration against the backdrop of traditional justifications for punishment, and, in an era when increasing use of custodial and other punitive methods is a growing worldwide, questions communities would not be far better served by a more emphatic and early shift in favour of restorative methods.This book provides an international perspective of the potential of restorative justice to deliver an altogether more enlightened approach towards dealing with offenders and victims. It argues that the use of custody can be reduced by challenging offenders to take responsibility for their offences and to make reparation for their wrong-doing. It seeks to consign to history the fallacies and false horizons of traditional thinking in favour of a principled, more purposeful use of sanctions."Criminal Punishment and Restorative Justice" pulls no punches in its criticism of traditional approaches and their failure to achieve crime prevention. David Cornwell appraises the potential of restorative justice to make 'corrections' more effective, civilised, humane, pragmatic and non-fanciful, by looking at 'bedrock issues' in contemporary criminology and penology and demonstrate that RJ offers no 'soft options', rather the demands of remorse, acceptance of responsibility, and the repairing of harm done. It makes the case for the radical overhaul of existing approaches on the basis of principle not political expediency.

Escalating resort to prisons, longer sentences, overcrowded and ineffective regimes, high rates of re-offending and eclectic penal policy all combine to fuel this crisis, whilst failing to reduce offending. In this new book, David J Cornwell, author of the acclaimed "Criminal Punishment and Restorative Justice" (ISBN 9781904380207), argues that the symptoms of this penal malaise are grounded in media sensationalism of crime and the need of politicians and their advisers to retain electoral credibility. Change is long overdue, but it requires a fresh, contemporary penology based on Restorative Justice. This book challenges the status quo, asks 'different questions' and places victims of crime at the centre of the criminal justice process.

Based on a lifetime of research and experience, this book deals with the concerns about crime and punishment of that most vivid of judicial creations, 'The Man or Woman on the Clapham Omnibus'. As the author explains, this human reference point for reason and good sense is likely to be far more receptive to sound explanation and argument than the media (and tabloid press in particular) might give credit. And after all, it is his or her taxes which are being routinely wasted on outmoded or discredited methods. Crime will not disappear through the application of heavy-handed sanctions. Indeed, they make matters worse. With prisons overflowing in many western countries, restorative justice offers a better and ultimately more intuitive solution. Cornwell dismantles the traditional arguments for 'locking people away' and undermines the idea that it is necessary to be 'tough on crime'. The book credits people with a higher level of intelligence. It provides them with proper answers and explanations based on sound data, copious research and an in-depth analysis of existing trends.It is a work for people who value credibility rather than politically-driven excuses with their increasingly damaging effects.

Restorative justice has attracted increasing support world-wide, but it sits uncomfortably alongside entrenched attitudes towards punishment and retribution. Because it does not involve 'locking-up people and throwing away the key' it is not favoured reading for risk-averse politicians or the media. There are also vested interests at play which can be traced back to when the state first sought to enhance its coffers and cast victims to the side lines. As a result, the concept of 'mercy' has become largely lost, distorting relationships between victims, offenders and communities. The author argues that rediscovering mercy would lead to a more humane and purposeful form of criminal justice. His book looks at the characteristics of mercy and explains how it has become confused with mitigation and leniency. He goes on to deconstruct and analyse current theories and make proposals for reform. Long-overdue reform of contemporary criminal justice necessitates, as the author argues, a 'paradigm-shift' requiring inspired political leadership and a consensus to 'do justice better' between policy-makers, academics, jurists, criminal justice professionals and opinion-formers.The book examines the implications and challenges of such a journey and its purposes in a modern, progressive, enlightened and civilised society.

This book presents both a survey of and commentary upon the penal process of England and Wales between 1945 and 2020 from the primary perspective of prisons and their operational management.